The Falcons’ offensive line has been decimated by injuries through the first half of the season. Backup center Peter Konz played three games in relief before joining Joe Hawley on injured reserve this week. James Stone, an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee, took over in Week 7 and is the latest player to be named the “starting center” for the Falcons.
Stone allowed two quarterback pressures in 45 pass blocking snaps en route to a -1.9 overall PFF grade last week. This week, Stone gets thrown straight into the fire as he faces off against dominant duo of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley; two of the top defensive tackles in the league right now.
Suh is No. 7 among defensive tackles in Pass Rushing Productivity (8.3%) with 24 total pressures on 227 passing snaps. While Fairley is the lesser known of the duo, he has been an absolute force. Fairley ranks No. 1 in Pass Rushing Productivity (10.2%) and also No. 8 in Defensive Tackle Run Stop Percentage (9.6%) with 9 stops on 94 run snaps.
Undoubtedly a tough task for Stone in his first NFL start: Welcome to the NFL, Rookie.
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